Monday, November 26, 2007

A few nights ago Nutmeg had a not-so-good bedtime, starting with silly high-strung behavior and culminating in a tantrum. When I finally had her calm and behaving herself, I consented to read a couple of poems as a bedtime story since she had already wasted too much time and goodwill to get a chapter of a book.

We read a couple of poems from "A Light in the Attic" including one about a kid who sends away for a new mom and dad and gets rid of the old ones. Nutmeg laughed at it. I put her to bed across from her sleeping sister's crib, she seemed settled, and I went down to wash the dishes.

Fifteen minutes later I notice some strange breathing on the monitor. Then I hear Nutmeg get out of bed and run across the upstairs floor. As I go up the stairs, she skitters back to her bed and I can hear her weeping.

"That poem -- sob -- was so -- sob -- sad," she finally gets out. Then she grabs me in a tight, drowning person's hug. "Because I just love you too much!"

Apparently the poem had scared the hell out of her with its suggestion that you might get new parents to replace your old ones. For once, I consented to lie next to her in bed while she fell asleep.

Poor peanut. She's had everything new this year: New sister, new house, new school. What's so preposterous about getting new parents?

Aww... poor Nut. I loved Silverstein's books as a kid, but I was a little older than Nut, so none of his poems scared me. I thought for certain you were going to say how Nut wanted new parents. I think I got told something similar by K, which broke my heart. If his mission was to make me feel guilty and like I was the worst parent ever, mission accomplished. On a separate note, does Nut have "The Giving Tree" yet? That one makes me tear up every time.